The number of computers being installed and used has been increasing steadily and will continue to increase over the years affecting virtually every segment of society. However, use of computers by sales persons as management and marketing tools has not been growing as fast as it has in other fields. Presently, computer use in sales has been confined to "order-filling" activities as opposed to "order-getting" activities. The productivity of a sales force represents one of the more costly and critical aspects of a sales operation. It is estimated that 70% of business telephone calls are not completed on the first attempt resulting in telephone lag between sales personnel and the home office. Valuable information is lost because paperwork and reporting is viewed as a burden by sales people. Furthermore, sales management does not have or take the time to thoroughly evaluate sales reports.
In addition, many companies are not large enough to make the necessary customer follow-ups nor are they large enough to have the necessary summaries of their salesperson's activities at their fingertips so that often many promising sales leads do not culminate in sales. Moreover, many companies do not, or cannot, take the time and/or use the personnel necessary to thank each customer called upon and many salespersons do not have the time or the facilities to do this important customer relations function.